Lear Capital’s Market Analysis Examines Record Demand for Gold and Silver Markets
The Los Angeles-based precious metals dealer Lear Capital has announced the release of its latest marketing analysis detailing the trends and key differences that are occurring in the gold and silver sectors. With rising demand for both precious metals, the firm highlights what has influenced their desire over the past year.
According to Kevin DeMeritt, founder and chairman of Lear Capital, the firm’s silver and gold price charts illustrate that silver and gold have generally retained or risen in price over the past 10 years.
Lear Capital’s price chart analysis grants historical insight into price movements as they compare to modern shifts in the gold and silver investment landscape, leading the company to mark 2024 as a pivotal year for the precious metal markets. The announcement comes during a time when these precious metals are rising in demand, making the timing of Lear Capital’s insightful analysis ideal for understanding the current trends.
Lear Capital’s silver price charts include a one-year, one-month and 24-hour spot price, whose trends offer insight into how desire for this metal has been and is being influenced. The one-year chart’s increased silver price reflects industrial demand from a record high in 2023 driven by the electrical and electronics sector.
“The silver market, about 10 or 12 years ago, started getting a lot of demand because of solar ,” DeMeritt said. “You really can’t have solar without some silver in those panels, and because there’s this drive for green energy around the world, obviously solar has grown – so has the demand for silver.”
The demand has impacted silver’s availability for the past two years, a trend that continues in Lear Capital’s marketing analysis. According to the Silver Institute, another shortage is to be expected this year. Due to demand, Lear Capital’s analysis has reflected a significant increase in the value of silver. Even with a 1% increase in supply, the silver deficit may be more than 215 million ounces by the end of 2024, the second-largest market shortage in more than 20 years.
On the other hand, Lear’s trend charts show that just 249 tons of gold were used in electronics in 2023. Silver’s use in electronics has helped the metal to gain in price through widespread use, as reflected in the insights announced by Lear Capital, but gold remains the forerunner of the two due to a variety of other factors outlined by the firm.
Lear Capital’s market analysis notes that central banks have been a major driver of gold demand, with rates of gold-buying being well-documented in the company’s announcement. The company notes that central banks have continued to buy throughout 2024, with 186 tons of gold bought in the third quarter alone.
The market analysis charts demonstrate a gold-to-silver ratio of about 80 ounces, with the typical range being somewhere between 40 and 90. Lear Capital’s announcement would suggest that the market difference is on the higher end in 2024, meaning that silver is much cheaper to invest in DeMeritt’s eyes.
“If you look at history, the gold market has always led the silver market,” the Lear Capital founder said. “Gold markets run; silver markets come after it. If you’re looking at the metals market, you want to decrease the amount you have in gold and look at the silver market. My personal portfolio is 20% gold right now, 80% silver.”
Lear Capital’s analysis shows that, over the past year, precious metals have been on the rise. With silver influenced by the electronics sector and gold influenced by central banks, the latest trends mark record demand.
